Common Law Marriage

[Desprate]

I live in Alabama i was married to a man for 23 years he was in the military we married in 1959 he retired in 1971 in 1983 we divoriced 6 months later we lived with each other again till his death in 1991 as he was retired from service i just found out i should be able to draw some of his benifits but was told because we never remarried i didnt fall in that catagory how do i prove a common law marrage to recieve his benifits?He died from service connected cancer from agent orange and i have never remarried anyone.

[rmet4nzkx]

Yes you would quality for common law marriage in Alabama by capacity, agreement to be married, consummation
Your case would be better documented with records showing that you continued to file incometax as married, you continued to represent yourselves and married, you used his last name. You might contact, the Disabled Veteran's association for assistance. If he qualified under the special provisions for Agent Orange you should have already been covered. It is possible that for some reason he failed to claim the marriage, was he of sound mind?

[Desprate]

He had PTSD but was of sound mind .we lived as if we were married after the divorce up till he died.How do i prove this where do i go to get the state of alabama to to give me proof of this i was told i need a papper from the state to prove this im really confused